EU PARLIAMENT APPROVES “REACH” CHEMICALS LAW;
MEMBER STATES TO VOTE ON 13 DECEMBER

The EU
Parliament has voted for a compromise proposal on a new chemicals law,
called REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemicals).
The new law, which was approved on 17 November 2005, would require
industry to provide safety data on chemical substances, and provide this
data to a central database. EU member states will vote on the proposal
in an extraordinary meeting to be held in December.

IFCS has
released a new report entitled Chemical Safety and Children’s Health:
Protecting the world’s children from harmful chemical exposures: a
global guide to resources. Prepared by the IFCS Children and
Chemical Safety Working Group, the report gives background information
on the issue and provides links to relevant resources for stakeholders
to prevent harm to children.

A recent
report from Greenpeace has identified brominated flame retardants and
PCBs in eels from rivers and lakes in 10 European countries. The report,
Swimming in Chemicals, highlights levels of these chemicals, some
of which are prohibited in Europe, although some are still in use. The
report urges European leaders to respond by adopting and implementing
the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals)
programme.

The
President of the SAICM Preparatory Committee has released a revised
draft high-level declaration, including amendments made in response to
comments made by participants during PrepCom-3. Additional comments on
the draft high-level declaration will be accepted until 11 November
2005, and will be considered by the President in advance of the
International Conference on Chemicals Management, to be held in Dubai
from 4-5 February 2006.

Children
have more chemicals in their blood than their mothers, according to a
new European study. A report from a European-wide survey of chemicals
levels in three generations of women found 73 anthropogenic chemicals in
the women’s blood. WWF’s “Generations X” survey tested women from 13
families from 12 European countries, and analyzed blood samples for 107
different substances. Substances tested included DDT, PCBs, brominated
flame retardants, perfluorinated chemicals, and artificial musks. The
highest number of chemicals was detected in the oldest generation
(grandmothers), with 63 chemicals. In the mothers’ generation, 49
chemicals were detected. However, this had risen to 59 chemicals in the
children.

A regional
forum has been formed as the first step to a more rigorous monitoring of
environmental crime in Asia and the Pacific. Facilitated by UNEP
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the forum is expected to help
curb the trade of hazardous chemicals, as well as natural resources and
endangered species in the region. The forum will foster regional
cooperation in combating environmental crime, encourage intelligence and
information exchange, explore synergies in respective training
programmes, and coordinate activities in combating illegal trade.

Greenpeace
and WWF have released a report identifying hazardous chemicals that are
apparently being passed from women to their unborn children. The report,
entitled “A Present for Life: Hazardous Chemicals in Umbilical Cord
Blood,” summarizes results from testing of samples of maternal and
umbilical cord blood for the presence of eight chemical groups Chemicals
identified in blood samples included phthalates, perfluorinated
compounds such as PFOS and PFOA, and organochlorines such as
hexachlorobenzene.

A group of
NGOs has organized a week of awareness-raising activities on waste
issues. The network challenges governments to adopt and implement
policies that will prevent waste at source, reduce and eliminate toxics,
extend producer responsibility, promote sustainable consumption, and
intensify recycling and composting. The focus of the week’s activities
was a “Global Day of Action” against waste and incineration on 7
September 2005. The international campaign, now in its fourth year, is
coordinated by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (also
known as the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance) or GAIA, a non-profit
network of public interest groups and individuals.

The
European Parliament has voted in favor of a permanent ban on the use of
phthalates in toys, making permanent a temporary ban that had been in
place since 1999. Phthalates are substances that are used as softeners
in plastic materials. Three phthalates (DEHP, DBP and BBP) that are
classified as reprotoxic are banned in all toys and childcare articles,
and three other phthalates (DINP, DIDP and DNOP) are banned for use in
soft PVC toys and articles children may suck or chew on.

Sweden is
calling for a worldwide ban on perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS),
according to reports. The chemical is used by various industries, and is
believed to pose health risks to animals and human populations.

The
European Union, Mexico, and environment group WWF have all proposed
adding chemicals to those dealt with under the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). While the EU has proposed two
chemicals and Mexico one, WWF has listed 20 it believes should be
considered.

At the
recent first Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention held in
Punta del Este, the EU proposed that chlordecone and hexabromobiphenyl
be added to the Stockholm Convention. Chlordecone and hexabromobiphenyl
are already listed in the regional UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
protocol on POPs under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air
Pollution. Chlordecone is used as a pesticide, and hexabromobiphenyl is
a brominated flame retardant.

Meanwhile,
Mexico announced its intention that the pesticide lindane be added to
the Stockholm Convention. Lindane, used as a pesticide and as a
treatment for head lice, is listed under the Rotterdam Convention’s
Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure, as well as in the in the
regional UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) protocol on POPs
under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. The
North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, of which Mexico
is a member, is currently developing a regional action plan on lindane.

The WWF
list also includes five brominated flame retardants –
hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), hexabromobiphenyl (Hexa-BB),
pentabrominated diphenyl ether (penta-BDE), octabrominated diphenyl
ether (octa-BDE), decabrominated diphenyl ether (deca-BDE). Two
perfluorinated compounds – perfluorooctanyl sulfonate (PFOS) and
perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts (PFOA) – are also on the list, as
are four other chlorinated chemicals or groups – pentachlorobenzene (penta-CB),
short-chained chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), polychlorinated naphtalenes
(PCNs), and tetrachlorobenzene (tetra-CB). Finally, two
unintentionally-produced chemicals are also listed – ochtachlorostyrene
(OCS) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Many of these
chemicals, including perfluorinated compounds and brominated flame
retardants, are widely used in everyday products and have been detected
in the environment.

Sheila
Watt-Cloutier of Canada, who is the President of the Inuit Circumpolar
Conference, was named one of seven ï¿½Champions of the Earthï¿½ by the UN
Environment Programme, in recognition of her work addressing global
warming and contributions to efforts to eliminate persistent organic
pollutants. The awards, which honor outstanding environmental achievers
and leaders from each region of the world, were presented on 19 April at
UN headquarters in New York. Other recipients included: the King and
people of Bhutan; the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan of the
United Arab Emirates; President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa; His All
Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, head of the Orthodox
Christian Church; Julia Carabias Lillo, former environment minister of
Mexico; and Zhou Qiang and the All-China Youth Federation.

The
Norwegian Government has submitted a proposal to add pentabromodiphenyl
ether (penta-BDE) to the Stockholm Convention as a persistent organic
pollutant (POP). Penta-BDE, which is used as a flame retardant, is
already prohibited in the European Union. The proposal will be forwarded
to an expert group for scientific review, following the first Conference
of Parties to the Stockholm Convention in May 2005.

The
International POPs Elimination Project (IPEP), a global NGO project to
facilitate implementation of the Stockholm Convention, has launched its
new website. IPEP, which began in May 2004, is a project of the
International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), in partnership with the
UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UN Environment
Programme (UNEP). The Global Environment Facility (GEF) provided core
funding for the project. IPEPï¿½s goals are to encourage and enable NGOs
in 40 developing and transitional countries to engage in Stockholm
Convention activities; to enhance capacity-building among NGOs; and to
help establish regional and national NGO coordination and capacity in
all regions in support of longer term efforts to achieve chemical
safety.

The Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS)
Forum Standing Committee has released a ï¿½Thought-Starterï¿½ document on
International Aspects of Chemicals Management Post-SAICM ï¿½ Tracking
Progress, Promoting Implementation, and Follow-Up. The document aims to
stimulate thinking and discussion on aspects of the SAICM, by examining
possible institutional arrangements and roles in chemical safety. It
proposes six options for possible institutional arrangements for SAICM
implementation: retaining the status quo; amending the functions
of the IFCS; amending the functions of the IOMC; combining the IFCS and
IOMC; allocating a lead role to an existing organization outside the
chemicals system; or creating a new entity with responsibility for SAICM.
Comments are requested on the paper by 19 May 2005 from countries, NGOs
and IGOs.